50/50 Tour Stop: # 2 (Concert # 2)
Date: October 24, 1981
Venue: International Banquet House. 549 West International Airport Road. Anchorage, Alaska. 99581. USA.
Find it on Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/oDGDv7ECatDjEsij6
Venue Exterior:
1981:
I have not yet found a photo of the exterior of the International Banquet House as it looked circa the 50-50 tour. Please get in touch if you know of one.
2011:
Venue Interior:
1979:
Source: Chugiak Gruening Jr. / Sr. High School. Babiche Yearbook. 1979. Pg. 109.
Opening Act: Gary Sloan and the Southside Blues Band.
Source: Living Blues Magazine. 1981. Pg. 42.
Photo Source: http://sadisynn.com/Musicians/SouthSideBluesBand.html
Poster / Flyer / Handbill: I have not yet seen a poster, flyer or handbill for this show. If you have a copy or any information, please get in touch!
Press & Promotion: I am still looking for any advertising used to promote the Destroyers’ 50-50 concert in Anchorage. Please send me a note if you know of any or have any images you can share.
Ticket Price: Blog visitor and Anchorage 50-50 concert attendee Doug T. reports that tickets for this show were $13.50. Please contact me if you can confirm this information.
Ticket Stub:
Attendance: Unknown. The promoter noted a venue capacity of 900 for this concert.
Source: Bill Blough / Facebook.
Set List: Unknown. The Destroyers’ 50-50 concert in Alaska was three and a half hours long.
Source: Anchorage Daily News. September 4, 1986.
Was the Concert Recorded? Unknown.
Concert Photos: I am still looking for any photos of the Destroyers performing at the International Banquet House during the 50-50 tour. Please get in touch if you have any!
Concert Reaction:
Donna Freedman of the Anchorage Daily News reported that the Destroyers’ 50-50 concert in Alaska “left audiences dancing on the tables and screaming in the aisles”.
Source: Anchorage Daily News. September 4, 1986.
Blog visitor and Anchorage 50-50 concert attendee Doug T. shared his recollection of the evening:
“The venue is about as you [might imagine]. There were big round tables set up in this one big banquet room. I want to say ten seats per table, as the tables were fairly big. If you think ‘wedding reception layout’, you are about right. Tables had white table clothes and waitress service… I remember the place being packed. Most likely it was sold out, as George had a pretty good following in Anchorage due to the FM radio scene at the time.
About two or three songs into the show, the tables and chairs were of no consequence. The place went CRAZY, so it didn’t matter which table or which chair you had at the beginning of the show. Everything was pushed aside and it just became a frenzied […] mosh pit-type scene up front by the stage.
George went running off into the crowd a few times and at a couple of points [he] hopped up on a table and jammed for a bit – with his feet kicking and shuffling every step of the way.
He [had already done] at least two encores when he came back out and said, “Alright, what do you want to hear?” He [then] kicked into ‘It Wasn’t Me’. He did every song from the first three albums, which would be about 30 songs.
The bars in Anchorage had to close at 2am back then. I remember him saying that because of the “clock on the wall”, he could no longer play. That is when the show finally ended. Honestly, [we] were totally spent by that time. After the lights came up, I remember looking around the room at all the strewn chairs and tables. The place looked like a tornado had come through. We all were looking at each other like, “What the hell just happened?” It was crazy, crazy, crazy good.”
Other Notes: None.
Fate of the Venue: The International Banquet House turned into a music venue called “Grand Central Station” by the middle of 1985. At the time of this writing, a mixed-use business/retail/restaurant complex operates at 549 West International Airport Road.
50 States in 50 Dates 